'Turbo' worked all pre-season for a moment like this

Tom Trbjoevic sweated under the North Narrabeen sun at Manly's training headquarters in the off-season to better himself in defence.

And in a triumphant 9-8 win for Manly over the Roosters at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday night, Trbojevic saw it all come to fruition.

He single-handedly stopped two Roosters tries – firstly knocking the ball out of Luke Keary's hands as he was about to ground it and then knocking the bulkier frame of former Test winger Brett Morris over the sideline, less than a metre from the corner post.

"It was great to stop him (Morris). It's something I've been working on in the pre-season," Trbojevic said.

"It's a big role being fullback these days so it's good to play my part in our defence.

"I've known Kez (keary) for a while so I was just lucky to get around him."

The Trboejvic game-turners against the premiers did not go unnoticed by coach Des Hasler.

"We had a couple of big turning points in the game, 'Turbo' was outstanding at the back and he was able to produce," Hasler said.

"It' something he's worked hard on and something he's concentrated on over the off-season, and I'm glad it's paying off. 

"The make-up of who Tom is, he's just a competitor, he competes and competes."

The man nicknamed 'Turbo' admitted that some of his defensive reads and cover tackles in the past haven't been to the standard he wanted.

"A fulback's role is so important in defence in the organisation of the team and the cover defence," he said.

"You've got to get around the back. It's something I haven't been too good at in recent years.

"So today I was able to save a few which is what you want to do. You know it can come down to moments in games where you've got to do your best to stop them.

"I was lucky enough today. It's basically about turning up at the right time."

And that's what teammate Daly Cherry-Evans did with his first and only field goal attempt in the 75th minute.

With the game tied up at 6-6 at halftime and then 8-8 with 13 minutes left on the clock, Cherry-Evans was right on target for his one-pointer to win the game.

He won two matches for Manly in 2019 with field goals and has opened his 2020 account already.

"I said last year that for players like Cherry, that's their moments and they execute them," Hasler said.

"He's very important to us."